THE WELL-WRITTEN RESUME

Your resume is usually your first contact with an organization. It creates an impression of you before you’ve even walked in the door. There exists a multitude of styles and formats that constitute a good resume. A great resume won’t guarantee you a dream job, but a sloppy, poorly written one will disqualify you from getting an interview, no matter how qualified you may be.

Keep in mind the importance of eye appeal when selecting a style. Make sure it’s aesthetically pleasing and not cluttered. Tailor your resume to what the interviewer is seeking. Remember: the resume gets you the interview – not the job. Limit your use of bullets and bold and italic print – they should highlight your achievements. Too much is distracting.

Pay close attention to details. If presentation is poor, substance won’t matter because your resume will not be read. Ask a friend, family member or colleague to proofread it. It is difficult to recognize your own mistakes and spell check does not catch all types of mistakes. Don’t misinterpret or misrepresent - ever. Today’s ready access to information makes the content of a resume extremely easy to verify. If you have misrepresented anything on your resume, you will ultimately get caught.

Appearance is essential, but it is the content of your resume that counts the most. You want to detail your experience and education in an appealing way. Be precise and factual. Your name, address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address appear at the top of the resume, followed by a summary of your qualifications. Your work history comes next, in reverse chronological order. Your education, should generally be listed where it brings the most current value. Early career candidates, will typically put education near the top since it would be the most significant event in their career thus far. Experienced candidates should list education after experience.

Your resume should be results focused. Other parts of the resume will pique the reader's interest, but it is your accomplishments that will make an organization take note. It is a simple fact that people in similar types of jobs, even if employed in different industries, will have fairly similar skills, abilities and job experiences. How then do you distinguish yourself in an employer's eyes from other viable candidates? The answer is obvious: you show more impressive accomplishments. They serve as proof of your ability to not only meet, but to exceed the highest level of performance expectations. Your accomplishments provide direct evidence that you actually do possess the skills, abilities and personal strengths that have been identified in other sections of your resume.